2 on 2- November

Happy November! Wow, the first year w Evelyn is flying by! She is now 9.5 months old! She weighs 15 lb. 4 oz. (A few ounces smaller than Cora was at this age) She waves, claps & gives kisses. She is eating more table food and now enjoying what she is eating.  2 more teeth have come through on the top but she is still working on another 2. No she is not sleeping through the night, not even close...But who is keeping track of how many times she is up?!?!?
She was my little lamb on Halloween and just as adorable as could be!

Cora Mae decided last minute to change her costume & become Cinderella rather than Rapunzel. It was precious, actually! She had been telling me for months she wanted to be Rapunzel so we got a costume from my niece. Perfect. She wore it everyday since the day she got it; even wore it to bible study Thursday morning. When it was time to dress for Trick or Treating she told me "Mommy, I just really want to be Cinderella. She is my favorite & I love her the most. Please can I wear my Cinderella dress?" Cute, right? I didn't care, so she got herself all ready in the Cinderella outfit my mom got her months ago for her birthday. Cora was such a trooper Trick or Treating. It was raining, cold & yucky here. That didn't stop her. She was so excited & ready to keep going house to house for "MORE CANDY"! It was a cold, wet but FUN night for me too :)
Cora also decided she didn't want to do dance anymore. She told me that she likes dance but she likes being w/ me more (Ohhhh, how I just love her sweetness) Maybe we'll try again in a year or so....
That's an update on my beautiful girls. They are treasures, for sure!

 

I won't always

These past several weeks have been hard on the "Mommy Front": Evie is getting 4 teeth on top, oh they are just below the surface. She is super whinny & insists that I hold her; almost constantly. She is up 4-5 times at night!
 Also, bc Cora has given up naps she too is more whinny & sassy than normal.
Especially, during "The witch's hour" I have been trying to be patient & offer grace to my girls. Some days it is harder than others but I have been reminded by the Holy Spirit during several situations that
I won't always.......

...Have a precious {fussy} baby at my feet while cooking dinner

...Be able to soothe her {teething} pain by rocking her (for hours). Someday, her pain will be caused by things much more out of my control...

 

...Have such an {extensive, long & tiring} bedtime routine w these beauties!

 

2 on 2~ September

Sorry this is late! I was delayed w the holiday which is when this should have been posted. Then I could not get good pictures of the girls. I tried & tried wo much luck; as you'll see below! (We've been playing outside a lot lately! Girls play in the water & I sit under the shade of a big maple.)

 

I can't believe how much Evelyn has changed this month! She now crawls all over, room to room. Sits wo support. She got her 2 bottom teeth and bc those teeth popped through she is sleeping better. (Up about 1-2 times every night) She wants to eat any & everything I am eating. She also gave up her paci. Not sure why?!?! Ah, she is just a lil doll!

I am happy to report Cora has decided to stop biting her nails! Yay! She just told me one day she didn't want to do that anymore! She has also given up naps! At first, I wasn't sure how I felt about that! But honestly, it seems to work out pretty good, she is now tired & ready for bed around 7:30. So much better than her past 8:30-9 bedtime! 

Spooky Stories

In June, I helped my mom clean & organize her attic. I came across a tote of children's books that I read as a kid. Funny, how a book I had forgotten all about can bring back memories...

Mom said I should take them for Cora instead of packing them back in the attic. I made a disclaimer that the 25+ yr old books might not survive long in my house. I brought about 10 books home but knew the 2 "SPOOKY" Berenstain Bears books would be the biggest hit w Cora. For several months prior she had been wanting me to tell her "Spooky" stories. Since we didn't have any books, I just made stories up.

So for weeks now I have been reading the following 2 books to her every night! Over n over n over n over.....Yea, her & I both know them by heart.  Although, I am getting bored w these 2 books I Wouldn't trade these moments w her.

2 on 2~ August

My little Miss Evelyn is 6.5 month old! I've started her on rice cereal, squash, carrots & green beans. She is sleeping horrible theses days; up at least 3x at night. She is proving to be just like her big sister & having a hard time with teething. {This too shall pass} She weighs an even 14lbs (8oz. smaller than Cora at this age). She is almost crawling, gets up on all fours & rocks but not on the move yet...

Cora Mae is my "big helper girl", as she likes to call herself! She has been enjoying the summer & all the trips to Indiana that we've been taking. She just loves her cousins. She likes to get herself ready in the morning as I wrote about in this post. I am not enrolling her in preschool this year b/c I am having too much fun w/ her being home w/ me. She's got the rest of her life to be in school, right? :)

Bad Habits

Sometimes Bad Habits are worth the consequences...

 

 

MaeMae is Growing Up!

In the past month or so Cora Mae has been wanting to pick out her own outfits, dress herself & do her own "hair style". I never imagined what a huge help this could be to me! Some days she picks out a simple dress & looks perfect. Other days her choices, well, wouldn't be what I would pick for her to wear. But either way I praise her for helping me, being Sooo big, & looking beautiful. She is always proud of own efforts & so am I!
Here are a few examples:::

Mismatched outfit, shirt on backwards, rain boots w/o socks

About 6-8 hair pins, clips/bows in her hair

Yes, I took her out in public w/ this hair! How could I not?

Here she did her own make-up

Proof that I am Favored by my Lord

These were taken mid- March by my friend Liz Bradley! Aren't my girls soooo beautiful?

 

2 on 2~ April

Evie is now 11 weeks old! When I took her to the doctor 2 weeks ago she weighed 11 lbs. She changes everyday & is a really good baby. She sleeps great & has shortened her fussy period at night. The past several nights we have been able to go to bed at 10! **Fingers crossed she keeps this up** She is not on any kind of schedule- she sleeps when she wants & will eat anywhere from every 1.5 hrs to 3.5 hrs. We are just going w the flow :)

Miss Cora Mae turned 3 last week! She had so much fun on our Florida vacation playing w/ her cousins and was always ready for the next adventure. We celebrated her birthday at a state park there & she got her treasured Cinderella play dress. (See pictures below) She has worn it over her clothes everyday since :) Thanks Grandma!!! I took her to her 3 year well visit and she weighs a whooping 27 lbs!
We are all ready for spring, warm temperatures and walks around our neighborhood!

This month our pictures are just quick snap shots of our morning. We are being lazy as I try to catch up from being gone for 11 days. Cora of course, picked out her Cinderella dress to wear. She is also battling a nasty, wheezy cough. These past few days I have been praying for patience w her whining but enjoying the moments during the night she wakes calling for me & asking to sleep in my bed because "it will make her feel better".  At home w these girls is Right where I want to be!

St. Patrick's Day Fun

We had some St. Patrick's Day fun here yesterday. Even though it isn't necessarily my favorite  holiday I wanted to make a fun day for Mae. (I had fun too:))

She helped me make green pancakes-Something I remember my mom doing!

She thought green pancakes were sooo fun! And she ate 2.5!!

Ev had a good St. Patty's Day too! (I just realized I didn't get a picture of Mae in her outfit. ooops)

We made rainbow cupcakes! It was kind of tedious but worth the excitement in Mae. As I filled the cupcake liners she told me what color to use next, licked the spoons & then asked for this picture to be taken :)  

My plan was to do a cake from scratch (which is what I always do bc I do not really like that distinct taste a box cake has) but then I saw this at Walmart & I knew I would be trying to pack Sunday so we gave it a try. It was great! It really doesn't taste like a box mix! And since these cupcakes were just for fun for Mae this mix worked perfect. Try one!

Cute huh? But next time I think I would just do it as a cake. B/c like I said splitting the batter up to color it and then 12 times for each cupcake was a little tedious!

 

We finished the day of the Irish w/ Shepard's pie. Mae loves this dinner so it worked perfectly!

 

2 on 2~March

Here is my first offical 2 on 2 post= An update on my 2 kids on the 2nd of the month! Yay!

Miss Cora Mae is almost 3 (end of March). She is aware her birthday is coming up & is asking for princess things! So girly :) She is also very excited for our Florida trip. Even though she has never been she knows she wants to go! Ha! She can now recognize her name & knows those 4 letters and we are continuing with the others! She absolutely loves her baby sister & is a bigger help to me than I imagined.

Evelyn is 6 weeks old!! (Wow, that's hard for me to believe) She now smiles, usually at Cora and has out grown her newborn clothes. I'm not sure what she weighs b/c our next doctor visit isn't until mid March. She is sleeping better but every evening she gets crabby & cries for a few hours before finally giving up & falling asleep. Then she gives me a good 4-5 hour sleep before waking to eat. The rest of the night she goes back to eating every 2 hours. One of her favorite past times is creating diaper blow outs for me to clean up :)

I feel so blessed that my maker has trusted me with such treasures.

 

 

 

Pictures taken by me! Hats made by Teresa, a woman from church. Pink blanket made by my sister- in- law, Michelle!